How to dry conveying air for smoother pneumatic conveying
Removing moisture from a pneumatic conveying system's conveying air can prevent problems with contaminating, spoiling, or caking the conveyed material. This article explains dew point and pressure dew point, then discusses equipment for cooling and drying conveying air and describes an example application in which installing such equipment solved moisture problems in a food plant's operation.
If the air used to convey a dry bulk material through a pneumatic conveying system is moist, the air can contaminate, spoil, or cake the material. For instance, condensation-laden conveying air can spoil a dry food material or cause cement to cake, plugging a hopper or a conveying line. Such problems can waste material, slow production, and raise maintenance costs. To prevent the problems, the conveying air must be properly dried.